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Intercontinental Championship
The Intercontinental Championship was introduced on the first episode of Raw with he first champion being John Cena, who defeated Ryback to win the title. It is currently the mid-card championship on SmackDown. History The first Intercontinental Champion was John Cena, who won the title against Ryback, and then defended it against the Big Guy at Extreme Rules in a Last Man Standing Match. Cena would defend the belt in an open challenge a few times, which would lead to the recently returned CM Punk capturing the belt on Raw. Punk would do his best to avoid Cena, refusing to take part in their match at King of the Ring, and taking advantage of a dangerous fall from Cena in their steel cage at Summerslam. Eventually the two met at Unforgiven in a Ladder Match, which saw Punk walk out champion once again after interference from Baron Corbin, signifying the end of their rivalry. Punk's long reign finally came to an end at the hands of Corbin, who pinned Rusev in a fatal four way also involving Shawn Michaels on the Raw Season 1 Finale. Soon after, Corbin made his first appearance on SmackDown, taking the belt with him and making it SmackDown exclusive. Apollo Crews won a battle royal to earn the first shot at Corbin, and defeated him at Survivor Series with a standing moonsault to capture his first main roster gold. On the December 13th edition of SmackDown, Crews and Corbin met in a rematch, where Corbin would become a two-time champion with the End of Days. Corbin's reign would last mere days, however, as he was defeated at Armageddon by The Miz, who earned his shot by defeating Corbin in November. The Miz lost the belt back to Baron Corbin at Royal Rumble, as the Lone Wolf became a three-time champion. Corbin's next defense would come at Fastlane, against Randy Orton. The Viper struck, becoming the new champ and injuring Corbin in the process. Randy made his first title defense at WrestleMania, against Tyson Kidd and former ally Braun Strowman. Randy Orton would then be involved in a feud with Sami Zayn, defeating him cleanly at Backlash, but Sami would get his win back in a non-title match on SmackDown. At Money in the Bank, the two faced off again, but the returning Baron Corbin would interfere, attacking Orton and giving him a disqualification victory. The two bitter rivals would look to settle the score at Battleground in a No Holds Barred match, which saw the Viper stand tall yet again. In a number one contenders match, Kenny Omega pulled off a huge win, defeating Brock Lesnar, before ending the title reign of Randy Orton at Summerslam. In Orton's rematch clause at No Mercy, the Cleaner won again, pinning Orton for a second time. After a title defense against Orton's ally Baron Corbin at Halloween Havoc , a potential dream match was set up for Omega, as AJ Styles challenged him to a championship match after an offer to rejoin The Club was rebuked. Omega beat Styles at Survivor Series , but their feud was far from over. Matt and Nick Jackson, the Young Bucks, saved Kenny after a beatdown by The Club, forming The Elite. The two factions met at Armageddon in a match were Omega's championship was on the line, and this stipulation saw Styles become the new champion. "The Cleaner" and the "Phenomenal One" met again weeks later on SmackDown, this time fighting to a time limit draw, before both men met again in the Royal Rumble match. At Elimination Chamber , Kenny Omega earned another championship match by defeating Ricochet, setting up one final encouncter with AJ Styles. The two men set up an Anything Goes match, where the loser would be fired from SmackDown Live. They went to war at WrestleMania , and Styles won again, as Omega departed the blue brand and Universe Mode. Styles would defeat Ricochet at Backlash and Andrade "Cien" Almas at Judgement Day , becoming a fan favorite due to his incredible work ethic and respect for the wrestling business. But someone didn't respect AJ, and that was new SmackDown acquisition Finn Balor, who led Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in a revolt against Styles. Balor would defeat AJ to win the title at Money in the Bank , and do it again at Battleground with Gallows and Anderson banned from ringside. But at Summerslam , AJ got revenge through Ricochet, as "The One and Only" defeated Balor to become Intercontinental Champion. Ricochet and Balor would face off in a ladder match at Clash of Champions , and Ricochet retained the championship, and retained again at Halloween Havoc against Styles and Almas in a triple threat match. But at Survivor Series , Andrade finally got his hands on the championship thanks to some help from Zelina Vega. Title Reigns __FORCETOC__